CHOCOHOLICS of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your fear of bad eating habits.

Lindt chocolates has a TV commercial asking, “do you dream in chocolate?”

My addiction is such that I would have to answer “yes.”

A website called allchocolate.com blog says that some diseases, like arthritis, are caused by the overactive response of the body’s immune system. It asserts that flavanols naturally found in dark chocolate and cocoa have been shown to suppress compounds that create such immune responses in the body.

It goes on to say it’s too early to tell whether cocoa can help control chronic ailments like arthritis and auto-immune disease.

HAVING lived a long life in a community that historically has a large number of Mormon Church members, I knew about the dietary restrictions placed on observant Latter-Day Saints.

From a website associated with the church (but not necessarily accepted by it) I read:

Postum (which is fine from the perspective of Mormon orthodoxy, though maybe not from the standpoint of good taste).

A diet rich in grains and vegetables.

PROBABLY okay:

Herbal tea (according to the Word of Wisdom, herbs are “to be used with

prudence and thanksgiving”).

Cooking with wine, because the alcoholic content burns off during cooking.

Some very conservative Mormons, however, won’t use so much as a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a batch of chocolate-chip cookies.

Possibly okay: Nonalcoholic beer and sparkling cider rather than champagne. However, some Mormons think they should avoid even looking like they’re drinking forbidden substances, because drinking them may confuse people.

Probably not okay, but no one knows for sure: Decaffeinated coffee.

Definitely not okay:

Alcohol, including wine and beer.

Black tea, green tea,and other caffeinated teas.

Coffee and recipes that use it (which may even include desserts like tiramisu).

FROM A New York Times blog I learned that a new study show that frequent chocolate eaters have a lower body mass index than those who eat it less often.

The researchers suspect that antioxidants and other compounds in chocolate may deliver a metabolic boost that can offset its caloric downside.

We chocoholics may have heard that in recent years chocolate has been linked to a growing list of health benefits. Studies have found, for example, that regularly eating chocolate may lower blood pressure and cardiovascular risk, and improve cholesterol and insulin regulation.